As part of our ongoing strategic growth plans, we are super excited to announce that Gray Dawes Group has acquired the Leeds and Edinburgh based travel management business, Ventur Travel, formerly known as Traveleads.
The acquisition of Ventur Travel takes our turnover to over £250m and pushes our employee numbers beyond the 200 mark.
As you know, Gray Dawes is renowned for our technical innovation and high-touch service, focus on providing complete business travel management solutions with a personal touch. These are characteristics we share with Ventur and it’s this combination which set us apart in the corporate travel arena; the core reason behind our respective ongoing success.
The acquisition also sees Venture Travel’s specialist leisure division, Ventur Luxury based in Harrogate, join the Gray Dawes Group.
Suzanne Horner, Gray Dawes Group CEO, comments “I have long admired the business that Gary McLeod, Elaine Holmes and their team have built, first as Traveleads and now as Ventur.” Horner continues, “This latest chapter in our development – Gray Dawes’ eleventh acquisition to date – marks such an exciting time for us and our customers.”
Horner says, “Following the challenges of the last two years, Gray Dawes are fantastically placed, both financially and from a skills perspective, to really drive our recovery while developing all parts of the business and new ventures. Through strong management, belief in our people, innovative technology and outstanding customer service, Gray Dawes have weathered the pandemic storm of the last two years better than most.” Horner continues, “Welcoming Ventur into the Group only strengthens our position and offering. The TMC is renowned across the industry for their loyal and outstanding staff. I am delighted to welcome them to the Gray Dawes Group!”
Gary McLeod, Ventur Business Transition Consultant and former joint Managing Director of Traveleads, commented “I am very excited by the opportunity to work with Suzanne and her team, and thrilled for Ventur’s staff to be part of an award-winning travel management company.” He continued, “There are so many synergies across the businesses which makes this a very natural fit. By being part of the Gray Dawes Group, we will be even stronger and able to deliver enhanced opportunities to our staff and clients alike.”
Fergus Glenapp, Gray Dawes Group Chairman and member of the company’s owners, the Inchcape family, commented, “I’m delighted to welcome the Ventur business, itself a family-owned company, into the Group.” Glenapp continues, “I look forward to supporting the remarkable and continued growth of our fantastic company.”
Over the next few weeks both the Ventur and Gray Dawes Travel brands will coexist; Ventur trading as a Gray Dawes Group company. However, we will be rebranding the Ventur Travel business to Gray Dawes Travel, but only once our systems and processes are in place and all our new staff have been fully trained and able to deliver the award-winning Gray Dawes Travel service. It’s important that our new clients see and experience the award-winning Gray Dawes difference. Regarding leisure travel, we’re trilled to retain the Ventur Luxury brand and plan to absorb our own Gray Dawes Holidays into this; again, the two operations are incredibly similar in service offering and positioning; we’re super excited about the possibilities this holds, not only for our existing leisure clients but also how we can present this to our traditional corporate clients.
There’ll be lots more exciting developments in the future, so watch this space!
To help you navigate the changes of business travel, we’ve created the brand-new Traveller Toolkit. This invaluable online resource is packed full of easy-to-use guides and checklists for every stage of every journey. We detail exactly what you need to know and do before, during and after your trip in a post-pandemic, post Brexit world.
You can even check the travel restrictions and health status of your destination with our comprehensive COVID-19 Country Tracker, updated five times daily to ensure you have the very latest information to help keep you and your travellers safe.
Travel is changing. With common sense and a good TMC behind you, travellers can have the confidence to once again take to the skies. It’ll soon be back business as (un)usual.